Thief ordered to wear 'Daddy, don't steal'

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KALAMAZOO, Mich., Sept. 24 (UPI) -- A Kalamazoo County, Mich., judge has ordered a man convicted of theft to wear the words "Daddy, don't steal" for seven months.

Kalamazoo County Circuit Judge Pamela Lightvoet handed down the sentence after Daniel Lee Cleland, 27, told the judge his 6-year-old son had recently told him: "Daddy, stop stealing," the Kalamazoo Gazette reported Wednesday.

Lightvoet said Cleland must wear the words written or taped to his arm or hand for the next seven months in lieu of a jail sentence for the same time span.

"You very easily could have been sent off to jail for seven months," Lightvoet said. "I don't want to see you back here unless you're visiting."

Cleland, who was also sentenced to four years of probation and ordered to earn his general-education degree, told the judge before sentencing that he had an addiction to heroin and was working to clean up his life for himself and his family.